What were you doing five years ago when America invaded Iraq?

It’s hard to believe five years have nearly passed since we went to war in Iraq.

A coalition of local groups plan to commemorate the invasion on Wednesday by gathering in downtown Raleigh, according to an e-mail I received today.

The event is planned to coordinate with a national effort supported by Operation Democracy with some 700 individual meetings scheduled. The groups will be meeting at the south side of Capital Square in downtown Raleigh on Morgan Street. The event is scheduled for 5 – 6:30 PM. The purpose of the vigil is to honor the troops and to focus attention on the need to end the war, a war whose cost is becoming more and more dangerous to the overall national economy.

The vigil will include readings of personal accounts from military personnel and their families. All interested parties are encouraged to participate and show their support for our military personnel.

Some of my friends and I were talking the other day about whether we remember where we were when the invasion occurred. I was interning for the State Journal-Register in Springfield, Ill., and I remember watching coverage from an itty-bitty TV screen behind my editors desk. I also remember naively thinking that the war would certainly be a quick one.

Here’s President Bush’s 2003 announcement of the invasion of Iraq:

Do you remember the day the war was launched? At that time, did you think we’d still be this engaged in Iraq?

Bunnies are nasty little animals

Sure, they’re super soft, but that’s the only positive thing I can say about rabbits. I can’t stand them. My parents go me and my brother a rabbit when I was about five. We named him “Hopperoo” and built a pen for him in the backyard of our house in Chicago. The only thing I remember about Hopperoo is that he used to bite all the time. He eventually dug a hole under the fence and got away. Good riddance.

Fast-forward to my freshman year of college. My friend Karen needed someone to watch her rabbit while she went to New Orleans on spring break. It was litter box trained, she said, but that didn’t seem to be the case. That nasty little rabbit pooped everywhere but the litter box. It was disgusting. Oh, and all he ever did was bite too. What’s the fun of having a pet that bites you all the time?

So I’m happy to see that the Apex, NC-based nonprofit All Creatures Rescue & Sanctuary is holding its third annual “Adopt a Plush Bunny” campaign to help prevent impulse purchases of Easter bunnies in the Triangle area.

The “Adopt a Plush Bunny” campaign features “adoption” kits that come with a plush bunny of your choice, an adoption “contract” and care guide, a coloring book, and lots of other information on rabbits and rabbit care! Impulse pet purchases are almost always misguided, but when the pet is as misunderstood as the domestic rabbit, it can be even more problematic. Contrary to popular perception, rabbits are not cuddly pets happy to be toted around.

The organization is teaming up with the SPCA of Wake County to help keep bunnies out of the hands of people who won’t take care of them. Apparently, animal shelters and rescue groups receive an influx of rabbits following Easter each year. I volunteered at the SPCA of Wake County in January and was surprised to see rabbits there. Here’s some footage I took of the local bunnies.

Maybe you’ve had a better experience with bunnies than I have. If so, try to help me see the light.

Fashion Blogging: Don’t pinch me for not wearing green

Meet Brittany Bryan, she’s a Cary resident who has some guts. I spotted Brittany wearing this casual outfit Saturday afternoon at the St. Patrick’s Day celebration in downtown Raleigh’s Moore Square.

So what makes her so brave? Well, look closely, she’s not sporting a lick of green. I didn’t pinch her, but I had to ask how it was she came to such an event without even a dash of the color: “We went and watched the ACC games first,” she responded, “so I’m not wearing green.”

Lucky for her, it’s hard to chide her for the offense because the outfit she put together instead is so stylish. She scored her T-shirt from Urban Outfitters, one of my favorite stores. It says: “Anything war can do, peace can do better.” She turned a business blazer casual by sporting it with jeans and a T-shirt. She thinks she got the waist-length jacket from Ann Taylor. She scored her black beaded necklace from Express.

And finally, she finished off the whole outfit with these red patent leather flats, which were the first thing I spotted on her as she walked across Moore Square.

I did want to be sure to include something green in my St. Patrick’s Day edition of fashion blogging, so I’m showing you these awesome suede moccasin loafers.

 I spotted these on a woman who attended Saturday’s Shred-it event in Raleigh’s Bedford neighborhood. Unfortunately, I have misplaced the piece of paper that has her name on it. All I remember is that she bought these Bolo shoes about a year ago after seeing them in a catalog. This particular pair was all sold out, however, so she snagged these from onlineshoes.com. I gave the woman my card, so if you’re reading this please post your name in the comments section of my blog so I can give you props!

Don’t hate me just because I microwaved my Peeps

Perhaps the most amusing thing happening in the Triangle this weekend is PeepFest 2008 at Market Street Books in Chapel Hill. The daylong event celebrates the marshmellow chicks and bunnies with activities such as Peeps jousting and a Peeps fashion show. This year’s theme is “Imagine World Peeps.” For the full list of activities click here. Market Street Books is located in Arts & Letters Community Center, 610 Market St.

In honor of this Peepabration, I made a quick video featuring the sugary, gooey animals. If you want to follow along, log onto How to Microwave a Peep while you watch this.

Without being grossly inappropriate, please tell me if you’ve ever put something else in the microwave that wasn’t supposed to go in there and what happened.

Shred your documents with Ginny from the Blog

If you’re like me and you don’t own a paper shredder, then you probably have stacks of documents filled with stuff you know you should shred, but just haven’t gotten around to.

You could do what I do — tear them up in small pieces and try to throw them out with the coffee grounds or cat litter to dissuade potential identity thieves from digging through your garbage. Or you can come to NBC17’s Shred-it events tomorrow.

The events run from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. at the following Raleigh locations: Edward McKay Bookstore, and the Goodwill drop off centers at Bedford at Falls River and in Eagle Ridge.

I volunteered to work at the Bedford location. So if you want to meet me and drop off some documents, I’ll be the one rocking the green Mardi Gras beads (I’m heading straight downtown for some St. Patty’s Day fun as soon as the event is over).

For more details about what you can and can’t bring, check out the Shred-it Website. I hope to see you there.

Some businesses just won’t tolerate poor cell phone manners

I stopped by Busse’s Lock Service at lunch so a friend could get a key made, and I was immediately impressed with this sign:

As the owner so aptly put it: “Tell you what, if you come in here talking on your cell phone, I won’t talk to you until you get off because I think that’s about as rude as you can get.”If you missed the short video I made with my co-worker, Wayne Sutton, last week on cell phone etiquette, check it out to see some other things you shouldn’t do while on your cell phone. You can read about some other rude things you shouldn’t do on your cell phone here.Do you always put down your cell phone at the check out line?

Is this Mickey Mouse?

Or just someone with unusual hair?

I spotted this woman Sunday afternoon at Cup A Joe on Hillsborough Street in Raleigh. It rocks that she boldly wears this hairstyle, but I couldn’t help think of Disney’s favorite mouse when I saw her.

Abortion kills babies and Jesus forgives, the flags say

This is why you should seek out different routes to your destination. I was driving home for lunch today and got stuck at a red light, so I decided to take a different path home. It definitely wasn’t any faster, but I got to drive past this display.

 Of course, I had to stop to see what the flags said (I may have new glasses, but I still can’t read small text from that far away). And here’s what I found: The flags are outside Our Lady of Lourdes Church on Anderson Street in Raleigh, and I never would have seen them had I not taken a different path home.

Something to do on a Saturday that involves beer

Here’s something that’s not hard to get behind: Free beer, education and supporting local businesses.

Once a month, Big Boss Brewing Company offers free tours of its Raleigh-based brewery. It’s almost too good to be true, but since I experienced it first-hand Saturday, I can happily report it’s not.

So you stand in line for like 15 minutes, and you’re given two free drink tickets. Then you can sample some drafts, chat with your friends and then have the laid-back staff explain a bit about the beer making process to you.

Truth be told, this is probably similar to all brewery tours, but since Saturday’s was my first time inside a brewery, I have no comparison.

I fell for my first Big Boss brew a week ago, when I tried the Bad Penny Brown Ale at Landmark Tavern (a new, somewhat swanky bar on Hargett Street in downtown Raleigh).

Anyway, the guys running the tour have just the right amount of sarcasm and pride in their work to make for a fun tour.

If you want to check it out for yourself, the brewery offers free tours at 2 p.m. on the second Saturday of every month. And if you have any other local beer tips, suggestions, etc., for me, don’t hold out. Please pass it along.

Fashion Blogging: A trip to India

This week I thought I would display some fashions from India. Here are some pics I snapped Saturday during India Fest 2008 at the J.S. Dorton Arena at the N.C. State Fairgrounds.

The event was sponsored by the Nuv Yug Cultural Organization and featured a fashion show exhibiting attire for brides and grooms for different areas of India.